A Sales Recovery Has Begun

Hi Folks,

   Hope you had a great weekend.

   So, the word on the street, per the National Association of Realtors, is that, "Existing-home sales rose again in September, affirming that a sales recovery has begun". This was in response to the release of Existing Home Sales data for the month of September, which showed another strong gain.

   Additionally, as the jump was a double-digit one, with a 10% increase, it would certainly seem that there is a housing recovery.

   Please keep in mind that there are also some other important numbers coming out this week:
      Tues 10/26 9AM - S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices
      Tues 10/26 10AM - FHFA Monthly House Price Index
      Weds 10/26 10AM - New Residential Sales

Please stay tuned for more (good) news !

Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Setting Goals in Real Estate Investing

Good Morning,

   I hope you've had a great week, and I hope that you have met all of your goals.

   In mentioning the word, "Goals" during our speaking appearances, we always remind audiences how important it is to set goals in anything that you do, especially in Real Estate investing. There is an entire psychological aspect behind Real Estate investing (too deep to go over in this post), and you need to assess where you stand and if you can weather the housing market "storm" before you should even list your goals and action them. Perhaps this is too abstract for this post, but always remember, we are driven by both psychology, and then by our goals. To hear me discuss this in depth, book me for your next meeting.

   Next week, we have the September numbers coming out for New Residential Construction on Tuesday (Oct 19th), and the Loan Performance Housing Price Index for August on Thursday (Oct 21st). Let's see where things are headed and let's discuss.

CONTEST TIME !

For the first 10 people who place an Ad by 11:59 PM EST Sunday Night:

We will send you a free copy of "Secrets of Rent to Own", or "Will it Work In My Town?"...it's your choice!

Where Can You place Your Ad?

Looking for a Rent to Own Home? Place Your Ad Here
Selling a Rent to Own Home? Place Your Ad Here
Selling a Rent to Own Commercial Property? Place Your Ad Here
Offering a Home Service? Place Your Ad Here

Once You Place Your Ad:

Once you place your Ad, E-mail us from the address you used to place your Ad, and let us know whether you want a copy of "Secrets of Rent to Own", or "Will it Work In My Town?".
E-mail us HERE

Have a Great Weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !



#realestate #realestateinvesting #housing #residential #renttoown
 

It's Still Rent to Own to Me

Hi Folks,
   News and trends spread fast in our global economy. One of the housing trends that has reached well beyond the borders of the U.S. has been that of "Rent to Own".

   As I often say, when I started this business in 2002, “Rent to Own” and "Lease Option” (and hybrids of the two) were alien terms. Over the 8+ years of managing the business, we have had our eye on the global markets, and we have seen some interesting developments.

   Now, the devil is in the details, but there are slight variations of Rent to Own all around the globe. For example, Australia uses the terms "rent to buy" and "vendor finance", and the UK and Ireland use "buy to let" (as well as lease option).

   Do you know what the two largest markets for Rent to Own are outside of the U.S.? It's Canada, and also, the Philippines. I bet you didn't guess that? Yes, often, this blows people away. In addition, the Philippines actually refer to it as "Rent to Own", as do our neighbors to the north. The Canadian market also uses some other variations, such as Vendor Take Back, or "VTB". Some other countries that use Rent to own or variations of it, include New Zealand and some of the Caribbean Islands .

   However, to find variations, we don't have to look far. While Chicago, the major cities in Florida, and North Carolina are some of the places that use the term, "Rent to Own", other places such as Atlanta and Phoenix use, "Lease Purchase" (varies in definition, but extremely similar).

   Please don't take this as the musings of a Real Estate Blogger, but as a primer for your entry into multiple national and international markets outside of your regular niche focus. Perhaps you could even consider it a small education on the real estate naming conventions across our big blue marble that we call Earth.

Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

10 Million New Renters?

Good Morning,


   We hope everyone had a great weekend. We certainly hit a homerun (no pun intended) here on the East Coast with golden sunshine, deep blue skies, and low humidity all weekend long. Ahhh...allergies !!

   When looking over some stories on a Google search the other day, I came across a story titled, "Renter Nation", in which the author says that, "The recession and shifting demographics will swell the ranks of people who will rent, not buy, housing over the next five years", and he deduces that, "roughly 10 million extra folks could be moving into rentals over the next five years". While this could be a frightening prospect for those who are thinking about selling their homes within the next 5 years, this does still hold optimism for some segments of the market.

   Those who are looking to sell their home would not have to stretch far across the table to rent their home with an option to buy, or Rent to Own. More often than not, those looking for a rental home will jump at the opportunity to earn some equity while they are renting. In this respect, these numbers hold promise. For Realtors, they will still earn the rental fee. For those who are renting out homes in the first place, they could see a surge in demand, which might potentially drive up some rental prices in certain areas.

   What would be the "Butterfly Effect" of such increases in rental prices? Good Economic sense tells us what should happen, but things have been so very far off from common sense over the past few years, that I would not even venture a guess. We welcome your opinions and comments on this question.

Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Construction and Home Sales Down...Is the Sky Falling?

Hi Everyone,


   Thanks for the overwhelming response to our post on Monday, and by a landslide, you have told us that you want to hear more about Real Estate Investing and the hottest markets. We hear you and we listen to you. Later on this week, we will be doing a piece on this very subject. Thank you, and we hope you enjoy all of your HomeRun Homes/Lease2Buy.com goodies that you received for your input. Enjoy !

   We had some housing numbers come out on Monday and Tuesday. The first set of numbers, pertaining to construction spending, showed these numbers slightly above the revised May estimate, however, 7.9% below the June 2009 Estimate. It's a huge difference, and we are all seeing it happen (or "not" happen).

   Pending home sales were released yesterday, and these also came down as well (in comparison with the Spring when the tax credit was applicable for home buyers).

   With all of these gloomy numbers, there are some gems out there. As mentioned earlier, we will discuss these real estate investing markets in our next post.

   The sky is not falling. Don't feed into that hype or it will take longer to recover. Keep your head up and keep your mind in the game.

Have a Great Day, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
 

Will the Housing Market Recover?

Welcome to Friday!


   Can it possibly be August? It certainly is, and folks, we are still in the midst of a housing crisis. Yes, I used the word, "crisis". There are definitely markets showing signs of recovery, as we have discussed in a previous post (http://www.blogging.lease2buy.com/2010/06/foreclosure-preventionimproved-housing.html), however, the rest of the market is struggling.

   An article recently cited the "6 Reasons the Housing Market Hasn't Recovered" (with credit to Luke Mullins of U.S. News and World Report), and the reasons were:

1) Labor market
2) Household formation
3) Foreclosures
4) Tight credit
5) Falling home prices
6) Selling your other home

   Two of these I found very interesting, and the first being "Household Formation". This is an angle that I personally have never thought about before, and might I add that it is a very good observation. What the author is saying is that basically, people cannot afford to branch out and purchase a home. People have fallen on hard times, and some have moved in with friends and family. Some couples who are looking to get married and purchase a home are perhaps holding off and staying in their rented apartment until things recover. Overall, a very good observation.

   The other point was that of, "Selling your other home". This has always been a problem, but is amplified during a market with falling housing prices, coupled with falling credit scores and income (or lack thereof). When you need to sell your home before you are able to purchase a new home, this takes it's toll. People are always looking to up size, downsize, or need to sell since they are moving. As we are seeing creative real estate options becoming more mainstream, such as Rent to Own (See our recent Blog post on this: http://www.blogging.lease2buy.com/2010/06/rent-to-own-transactions-move-into.html ), this will hopefully mitigate this factor from inhibiting our recovery.

   In keeping with our discussion, next week, there will be some important numbers released, which are the Construction Spending figures on Monday, and the Pending Home Sales Index numbers on Tuesday. Let's keep any eye on these together.

   Do you have any gripes about this market? What are your thoughts?

Have a Great Weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

E-book, Rent to own Secrets, and Barbecue...

Hi Everyone,

We just wanted to do a quick check-in with everyone and wish you a peaceful and relaxing day, if you are off today.

It will be a quiet week in terms of Economic and Housing indicators, but we will be buzzing on the HomeRun Homes campus with some new Social Media initiatives we have coming up this week. Also, coming up in the short term will be another wonderful utility to help you catch the latest Rent to Own Homes and Rent to Own Buyers as soon as they hit our website.

Additionally, we are very honored to have our E-book, "Secrets of Rent to Own", listed on the super directory of E-Books (E-Library.net), with the full link to our book directory listing as http://e-library.net/Secrets-Of-Rent-to-Own__ebooks22707.htm

OK, we will let everyone get back to their family, barbecue, and festivities.


Have a Great Day, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Rent-to-Own Transactions Move into Mainstream

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all having a great week. We are extremely pleased to share with you an article that was done on Rent to Own by a major, authoritative website, American-apartment-owners-association.org.

The article, titled, "Rent-to-Own Transactions Move into Mainstream" (http://www.american-apartment-owners-association.org/blog/2010/06/24/rent-to-own-transactions-move-into-mainstream/), provides HomeRun Homes some fantastic publicity, and it describes HomeRun Homes as, "a highly-ranked online classifieds service matching properties to buyers/tenants".

Within the context of the article, they quoted me when I discussed some of the best markets for Rent to Own (also called Lease Options or Lease Purchase), as Atlanta, Central Florida, North Carolina, California and Chicago, because, "...of the severe decline in home prices in those areas, coupled with a rough economy that poses credit hardships on many buyers".

I was also quoted as saying, "Rent-to-own gives investors a creative option when dealing with slow-moving or distressed properties", and, “At least you know you have someone in the property who wants to be there."

Kudos to that great website for spreading the word about Rent to Own Homes.

We will be checking back in with you on the housing numbers of this week gone-by.

Have a Great Day, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Mortgage Horror Story...

Hi Everyone,

Friday is upon us, and it's another sizzling one, depending on where you are geographically!

Today, I'd like to share a mortgage horror story with you. When I purchased an investment home with some partners a couple of years back, we were assured an interest rate on an interest-only/balloon mortgage. However, once we got to the closing table, the rate showed up in the documents as higher by 1/4 point. Needless to say, we were all quite furious, and the fact that the mortgage broker was not at the closing didn't help the situation(he was on vacation), so we called him on his mobile phone to voice our disapproval over this rate discrepancy. There was quite an exchange of words, however, it was kept on a professional level and just short of using expletives.

Ultimately, it was a mistake on his part, and he made good on the difference with a check to us for the difference calculated out over an agreed upon period of the loan. In order to avoid delaying the closing to have new papers drawn up, we moved forward, and accepted the above-mentioned check from his closing associate to cover a majority of our "losses". The moral of the story: Make sure everything is in writing, whether it be an E-mail from the mortgage company, or physical documents, you just cannot argue with hard copy. In this case, we had done previous closings with this broker, so we know it was an error and not malicious. Either way, "in writing" is the key. May this little story and this tip save you tons of aggravation !

Economic News related to the Real Estate Housing market is quiet next week, but as we all know, any and all economic news that is released will affect the housing market directly or indirectly. Always keep your eyes and ears open!

We have additional items/upgrades and more new features rolling out next week, so be sure to check in on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and any other days in between for breaking news and updates. What would even be easier for you? You can subscribe to this Blog feed or you can subscribe for Blog updates via E-mail. These options are both located on top of the column on the right-hand side of this page where it says, "Subscribe To Posts" and "Subscribe by E-mail". Also remember to check out our Podcasts for Free Download in our ITunes Store at http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=373351426


We hope you stay cool, and have a great weekend!
Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Blogging from the heart...

Hi Everyone,

We hope you had a great weekend, whether you were looking for a home or selling a home, or whether you just chose to take it easy and unwind. Summer is definitely in the air, and the humidity is creeping up.

This entry today brings us one step close to the summer, a time for vacations and fun, but also a time where people who are looking for and selling a home begin to feel some desperation. Perhaps they have children that they would like to have situated in a new school district before the school year begins. Perhaps you have children who just graduated or are moving to college, and you want to down-size. The summer stirs up all of these different situations, and it is on it's way. We hope that the new data coming out this week supports a stronger housing market, so a lot of people are taking a "wait and see" attitude.

Of course, there are those in desperation that are only looking straight ahead towards their immediate and urgently pressing goal of buying or selling. Those that are potentially in serious trouble and face imminent problems. To those people, we say to you, albeit hopefully of some comfort to you, that, "in darkness shineth light". This is from a Latin phrase roughly translated into English, but if you read it over, it will make you realize that little rays and sparks of hope will appear. It's all about perspective. If your family and children are healthy, monetary issues are worries over lack of paper - literally. These are problems that cannot kill you, if you conquer the stress that you impose on yourself during those times. Often, it's literally, "You against You". Realize this, stay strong, and you will make it through.

You do have options, and you do have choices. We founded our company on the principles of a desperate need back in 2002, when the market was in a good position. Regardless of the market, needs and desperation are always present, just to varying degrees. Keep your head up and be strong.

Blogging from the heart !
Have a great week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Confusing Housing Market, Residential Sales, Prices, Mobile Devices...

Hi Everyone,

We have all made it through another exciting week, with traffic to our website up another 10% from last week, and Ad-responses have been gaining further momentum. This is great news for anyone who has an Ad on our website.

Well, if you've kept an eye on the news this week, you know that there have been several mixed signals from the market and the housing sector. We have heard that mortgage delinquencies were still happening at a rapid clip through the end of March, loan demands/requests from people looking to buy homes are at a 13-Year Low, and for the people who did seek Obama's Loan Modification HAMP program, an astonishing amount of them had their trial mortgages canceled...yes, you heard me right...canceled. True, there is a lot of uncertainty now, due to the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit (which expired on 4/30). This past week, an article on CNN was aptly named, "Housing market diagnosis: Bipolar".

OK, so doom and gloom. Is there a bright side? Of course there is. There are still options for homeowners who cannot find a loan the conventional way. The possibility always exists for you to negotiate a Rent to Own with a homeowner. Ask them. Inform them of how it works, and get your attorneys involved. Homeowners, please take note as well. If you're trying to sell your home, you might be going through potential buyers faster than a termite goes through wood. One after the other drops off since they cannot get a bank loan. Be creative and look into Rent to Own.

A few changes to the site this week, outside of what we mentioned earlier in the week. We have spruced up our "Top Spot" Featured Ad pages with some images of what an actual Top Spot promoted Ad will look like.

You can check out the page for upgrading a "Home Wanted" Ad here: http://www.lease2buy.com/top_homeswanted.php

You can check out the page for upgrading a "Home Available" Ad here: https://www.lease2buy.com/top_homesavailable.php

A look ahead to the economic news for next week shows us some very important numbers coming out: Existing-Home Sales. S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, FHFA Quarterly House Price Index, and New Residential Sales. These numbers should set the tone for the summer months, and they are worth watching.

Looking ahead for our website, we will be working on "mobile-enabling" our site for the most popular mobile devices now, like the IPhone, Android, etc, and we'll keep you posted on how this is going. We have seen a significant increase in traffic to our site from Mobile Devices, and we want to capitalize on every potential buyer and seller...any one of them can be "the one" who can Rent to Own your home !!


We value your feedback; Please tell us what creative options you have been considering to buy or sell a home? Let us know



Have a Great Weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

New Residential Construction, Loans, Referrals and Affiliates, Free Book...

Hi Everyone,

A Happy Friday to All.

Things have been simmering here at HomeRun Homes, with traffic to our website at all-time highs, and we are proud to say that we have received the most "Thank You" E-mails from our customers within one week since we began doing business 8 years ago.

OK, some important news coming out next week:

Tuesday the 18th brings the newest figures for New Residential Construction - Building Permits, Housing Starts, and Housing Completions

Friday the 21st brings the Loan Performance Housing Price Index


These are both very important numbers. The announcement of New Construction, coupled with Housing Prices, should paint a better picture of where things have been over the past few months, and if they are positive, they can hopefully continue throughout the summer and beyond.

Now, we usually like to throw some exciting promo on the table at least once a week, so we are letting everyone know that we offer a generous Referral and Affiliate program. If you are interested in learning more, please leave comments here, or you can send an E-mail to homebuyer@lease2buy.com with the subject line of "Referrals/Affiliates", and we'll send you more details. It's a great way to earn some extra money and some free months on your Ads.

As a final note, we are responding to a question from one of the buyers who has received a large amount of responses from sellers this past week. Our best advice is to make a document or spreadsheet with the name and contact info of each seller, along with the details (prices, etc) of their homes. Once you have it all down visually, it's much easier for you to make a decision and make further reminder notes once you have viewed their properties. Good luck, and we hope you found your new castle !

Remember, we are offering a Free Copy of "Secrets of Rent to Own", when you purchase an Ad of 3-Months or longer.

If you're Looking for a Rent to Own Home, you can get your very own "Home Wanted" Ad at http://www.lease2buy.com/prospectivetenants.php

If you're Selling a Rent to Own Home, you can get your very own "Home Available" Ad at http://www.lease2buy.com/prospectivesellers.php


Have a Great Weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !!

Special Offer, Social Media, Mobile, Home Prices...

Hi Everyone,
Happy Friday - we made it through another week!

It's been a busy week here, and we want to cover a few things, as well as announce a New SPECIAL OFFER, since the one from last week was a HUGE hit with everyone!

First off, some business:

We continued aggregating our site across the Social Media Aggregation sites to ensure our Blog reaches new visitors - in plain English - this means more and more visitors to your Ads - a very good thing !
Additionally, we continued developing StopForeclosureRenttoOwn.com, our newest venture, with the goal of reaching people in desperate need of housing!
Last but not least, we continued preparing our site for Mobile users - it's a huge project, since there are so many models of mobile devices, but very important!

Next - Upcoming Economic Events:

Tuesday 4/27 - S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index:
Per Standard and Poors Site:
"The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices measures the residential housing market, tracking changes in the value of the residential real estate market in 20 metropolitan regions across the United States."

Now - for the SPECIAL OFFER:

For Every Ad placed, whether it is a "Home Wanted", "Home Available", "Home Service", or "Commercial Property" Ad, you will receive a Free Copy of "SECRETS OF RENT TO OWN" (Click here for info on this book)

Now, normally, we only do this when you purchase an Ad of 3-Months or longer, however, just for today - that is until 12 Midnight EST today 4/23 - when you order ANY Ad (1 month and longer), you will receive a free copy of the Guide

Sounds Good?

OK, here's how this will work, step-by-step:

1. Place an Ad at one of these links (click on of the following links):
Looking for a Home? - "Home Wanted" Ad
Selling a Home? - "Home Available" Ad
Offering a Service? - "Home Service" Ad
Offering a Commercial Property? - "Commercial Property" Ad

2. Remember - the above pages will say you get the book for a 3-Month or longer Ad...This is a SPECIAL OFFER direct from management!

3. Once you have placed your order, send an E-mail to homebuyer@lease2buy.com with this subject:
"Ad Placed - Send me Secrets of Rent to Own"...we will verify, and then E-mail it to you immediately.

Remember - this is a SPECIAL OFFER to our members !

Thanks, have a great day, a great weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !!

Existing Home Sales, and Secrets of Rent to Own Contest

Happy Friday Everyone,

Can anyone believe it is just about the end of April? Weren't we just shouting "Happy New Year!". WOW!

OK, a few things to cover here, along with a cool contest!

We had a very interesting interview with American Express (Open Forum - for a new publication that will be released in June). We discussed the "twenty-something" age demographic, and how a Rent to Own agreement (or lease purchase/lease option) can be beneficial to them as either a buyer or a seller. The interview will be published in June (we'll post a link to it when it's out), but I'm told the format will be similar to their current publication.

On the Housing Front; Next week, there are some very important figures coming out: "Existing Home Sales" (National Association or Realtors, or "NAR"), and also, "New Residential Sales". These are both very important figures for everyone, so let's keep a close eye on them.

Now - for the Contest !!
To the first 5 people who send us an E-mail (at homebuyer@lease2buy.com) with the Subject line, "SECRETS OF RENT TO OWN, we will E-mail you over a Free Copy of our E-Book, "Secrets of Rent to Own".
More details about the E-Book are available here: https://www.lease2buy.com/rent2ownbook.php


***REMEMBER: We can only do this with the first 5 people...The Contest ends by 7PM EST Today, or whenever we get the first 5 E-mails, whichever comes first - so Good Luck !!

Have a Great Day, a Great Weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Helpful Tips when doing your Walk-through...and More..

Hi All,
We hope you had an absolutely fantastic weekend, and we welcome you back.

A few interesting items happening today and this week:

Since the Spring is here for most of us, our market tends to pick up (we hope!), and buyers start doing their walk-throughs of properties that they are closing on. This brings me to the "Tip of the Day":
When doing a walk-through of a property, make sure you bring a small electrical outlet tester, as well as a phone jack tester.
These are two very inexpensive items that can save you time and money !
I've been burned on that a few times and it is quite irritating, so please learn from my silly mistakes.

OK, now, for HomeRun Homes, we have been compacting our database of properties and buyers, since it was a very busy February & March. Basically, to spare you the technical jargon, we compressed the data so that the site works faster.
Additionally, we have edited our YouTube Video for Rent to Own Homes over the past few days. Please take a glance at it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlOZxvY2gg4

Please also note: You can Follow our Blog and be notified of new posts by clicking on the "Follow" Button on the Right-hand side of the page - we promise that we will not bore you or let you down !

Finally, New Residential Construction numbers are coming out this Friday, the 16th. These numbers, as you can imagine, are very important for the housing market and the Economy, since this takes into account Building Permits, Housing Starts, and Housing Completions. For more information and details on this upcoming Report, here is the link: http://www.census.gov/const/www/newresconstindex.html

Thank you.
Have a Great Week and Happy Rent-to-Owning !!

New Support Contact System

Happy Friday to all,
Just a quick heads up to let you know that we have upgraded our Support Contact System. We have done some exhaustive work and found a way to answer about 94% of the questions we receive with an Auto-reply. Indeed, the answers to the questions are on the site as well, however, when time is of the essence for someone placing an urgent Rent to Own Ad, we wanted to provide this convenience for them.

Previously, we had a basic contact system in place, but with out new upgrade, there is a form that will auto-reply with the most common answers (all but 6% of them!).

Thereafter, our support team will follow up with the customers/potential customers to ensure their needs have been met.

As for other business:
1. We have tweaked the page for "Secrets of Rent to Own" (The guidebook on Rent to own), so this is worth a glance - Click Here to Visit the Page.
2. Additionally, we all know the Housing numbers were not so great this week. There are some construction numbers coming out next week that are worth a glance.

Have a great weekend and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Important Economic News coming out Tuesday 3/16

Good Afternoon,
Just to give everyone a heads up, New Residential Construction numbers are being released on Tuesday 3/16. This specific index takes into account Building Permits, Housing Starts, and Housing Completions, so basically, it's a "Biggie".

What does this mean for everyone? This will show us the relative strength of the housing market. If you are looking to buy or sell a Rent to Own Home, it's still a good time, and is always a good time, since it will always be an attractive option when a creative real estate solution is needed.

We have been developing a lot of cool new features for the website, so please stay tuned for updates.

Have a great day, and Happy Rent-to-Owning